A plunger type hay baler includes a frame that is hitched to a tractor and is configured to receive crop material, such as hay or straw, into a pressing cavity in which the crop material is pressed and formed into a bale. The baler includes a loading mechanism in which the crop material is collected from the ground, which is then routed into the pressing channel in a manner that is synchronous with a plunger. The plunger moves in a reciprocating manner in the pressing channel and encounters each new flake of crop material that is moved into the channel for compacting into a bale. After a sufficient amount of crop material has been compressed in the pressing channel, a twine threading mechanism inserts twine through a portion of the compressed material and the twine is then tied to complete the binding of the bale. The bale then proceeds further through the pressing channel and is ejected from the baling machine.
A traditional baling system utilizes a plunger that slides in the pressing channel with the plunger riding along and being constrained by the pressing channel itself. The force exerted against the crop material on this type of plunger arrangement is directly normal to the face of the plunger, thereby causing all of the resistance to be directly reflected onto the plunger as it moves.
What is needed in the art is a simple plunger arrangement that avoids having the face of the plunger encountering a load that is completely normal to the face.